Bangladesh appoint S Sriram T20 consultant for Asia Cup, T20 World Cup

The BCB has appointed former India allrounder S Sriram technical consultant for the Bangladesh T20I side, running from the Asia Cup later this month to the T20 World Cup in October-November this year. It is understood that Sriram will act as head coach of the T20I side, with current head coach Russell Domingo taking charge of the Test and ODI teams.

Domingo is scheduled to reach Dhaka on Friday, to discuss his future plans, and on Thursday BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that they were going to make "drastic changes" to the Asia Cup-bound side.

"We are not a strong side when it comes to T20 matches, and to do something about that, we have decided to bring drastic changes in our thought process and mentality," Hassan said. "'We want to start anew from the Asia Cup, and if we don't do it now, we will face even worse results in the World Cup. We have done appallingly in the last T20 World Cup. We don't know if we can get out of the circle of substandard results in T20 games. Since the Asia Cup is the biggest stage after the World Cup, we will try to change our way of playing and bring results."

Hassan, however, insisted that Sriram is a consultant and not coach. "The first thing is, Sriram was in our shortlist. He is coming to Dhaka on the afternoon of August 21. He is not taking over as coach. He is definitely not the head coach. He is coming as a technical consultant," Hassan said.

Sriram worked with the Australian team for six years from 2016, as assistant coach and spin-bowling coach, and has a role with Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL. In his time with Australia, he had a big impact on Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, and worked closely with Nathan Lyon. He has also worked on developing Glenn Maxwell as a T20 spinner both during his time with Australia and RCB.

Sriram played eight ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004, scoring one fifty and picking up nine wickets, and has a long and distinguished first-class career.

In a statement, he said he was excited to put his extensive coaching experience to good use with Bangladesh. "I bring with me 25 years of cricketing experience and nine years of coaching at an elite level. I am really looking forward to working with the Bangladesh players. I believe Bangladesh has huge potential in white-ball cricket and the very thought of being involved with such a talented group of players at two high-profile events excites me."

Sriram takes over a team that has won just two out of seven completed T20Is this year, on the back of the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, where they lost five out of five games in the second round of the tournament.

Among the challenges for Sriram will be to have an impact in a crowded coaching setup. Domingo might not be involved, but the team also has the influential Jamie Siddons as batting coach while board director Khaled Mahmud is team director.